Waste & Recycle

Quadrifoglio
Garbage collection and treatment is carried out in the city by Quadrifoglio S.p.A. Servizi Ambientali Area Fiorentina. Aside from Florence, this company also deals with garbage disposal in the nearby towns of Sesto Fiorentino, Campi Bisenzio, Calenzano and Signa. The company operates in an area of around 297km2 and collects the garbage of approximately 500.000 inhabitants.

How to recycle
The City of Florence recycles paper, plastic, aluminum, glass and in some areas organic matter (compost). The following containers can be found:

• Blue lid container: garbage that cannot be recycled;
• Yellow lid container: paper (paper boxes, newspaper, office paper, etc. except very dirty paper and paper with plastic layers);
• Blue bell shaped container for ‘multimateriale’: glass bottles, plastic bottles, plastic bags, Styrofoam, nylon, aluminum and other metal cans, Tetra-pak (milk containers, juice packs, etc);
• Brown lid container with green sticker: organic (food matter of animal or vegetable provenance, garden waste, etc).

Not all areas will have all of these bins. Within the historical center (inside the viali), domestic paper recycling is collected door to door on a given day of the week. To find out on which day of the week in your area paper collection is being carried out, please visit this website.

Some areas in the historical center now have underground garbage containers. After the first installment in Piazza Santa Maria Novella, there are now underground containers located in all of the following areas:

• Area Stazione Palazzuolo
• Area Santa Maria Novella
• Area San Paolino
• Area Carmine
• Area Ghiberti
• Area Goldoni Ognissanti
• Area Fiume
• Area Carducci
• Area Crocifisso/Dionisi
• Area Madonna Unità
• Area San Felice
• Area Agnolo/Pietrapiana
• Area Verdi
• Area Mentana

To visualize the exact locations of these underground garbage containers, please take a look at this map.

Used clothing
Used clothes, shoes and domestic items (e.g. toys and tablecloths) may be disposed of in the yellow containers operated by the Caritas Diocesana. For more information please visit their website.

Bulky waste disposal
In case you have to throw out large items like chairs and tv's, please do not leave them near to the ordinary garbage containers. By calling Quadrifoglio you can make an appointment to have these large items picked up during the night in which street cleaning takes place in your area. This service is free and items usually will be picked up within a maximum of 10 days.
tel. 055 3906666 (Monday to Friday from 8:30 am to 5:30 pm).

Batteries, medicine and more
Please do not dispose of dangerous items in the regular trash. In most pharmacies containers are present for the safe disposal of expired pharmaceuticals. Batteries on the other hand are collected by most supermarkets. Construction waste, neon tubes, car batteries and other items considered dangerous have to be brought to one of the ecostations in the city.

Links
Quadrifoglio - Servizi Ambientali Area Fiorentina website
Guide to recycling in Florence (YouTube video)